Colossians 3:12-14 teaches love and kindness as virtues we must “put on” or “clothe” ourselves with. And choosing to “put on” kindness is something Little Owl must do over and over in Laura Sassi’s adorable book, Love is Kind. Little Owl is determined to buy a box of heart-shaped chocolates for Grammy’s birthday, but woodland friends keep deterring his goal. He eventually reaches Grammy, empty-handed, and learns gifts of kindness trump material gifts. Based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Sassi’s book not only drives home its titled love attribute, but skillfully weaves the other “love is” characteristics into illustrations—when the attributes parallel the storyline.
I focused on “kindness is a choice” for the Love is Kind children’s ministry lesson plan, below, and connected this “big idea” to the biblical story of “The Good Samaritan.” The pictured JPEG lesson plan does not have clickable links, but you can access the PDF format with clickable links to the drawing page, craft ideas, and song by clicking here.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of this delightful book!
Below are brief explanations of the four possible follow-up activities included in the lesson.
For the first option, I adapted the owl project I found here to create a Love is Kind owl wall hanging. However, instead of wood burning the feathers, I used an ultra-fine point permanent marker.
I love the wooden owls, but unless you have a home-grown source, wood rounds are spendy for larger groups. I found 3½” scalloped paper circles at Hobby Lobby (36 varied designs for $2.99) and created a cheaper alternative. The only items I purchased for both projects were the paper and wooden circles. I had a great fun scavenging craft and plumbing supplies to create the faces, feet, and holders.
A simpler alternative would be for each child to create only one owl, and write all three words on the front or back. 
The second activity, an “Owl” Be Kind draw-and-color sheet, is less time intensive and gives students a take-home reminder of something tangible they can do to express kindness. You can access the PDF version here.
Laura Sassi provided me with this muffin topper link. For snack time, you could bring in muffins or cupcakes topped with Little Owl and friends graphics, or as suggested in activity three, students could cut out the woodland friends, mount them on popsicle sticks, and retell the story.
Finally, there are several song versions of Ephesians 4:32, and your group may already sing one. If not, this Jump Start version is fun.
Lison Chaperon’s illustrations for Love is Kind are darling and when I received my copy, my fist thought was, “Little Owl looks like he could use a hug.” This thought grew (until the resolution) as I empathized with this lovable character and his plight. Please enter the giveaway below for your chance to “hug” Little Owl.
Book Giveaway: To enter* to win a copy of Love is Kind, simply leave an “Enter me” or other comment, below. If for some reason the comment section does not work for you, you may leave an “Enter me” comment on my Love is Kind Facebook post @DenetteFretzAuthor. I will not use email addresses for any purpose other than to contact the winner. However, if you would like to receive future posts, please use the “Subscribe” widget on the right, or the “Follow Me On Facebook” link and “like” my author page.
The contest ends at 6:00 PST on February 20, 2019. One random winner will be selected and posted on February 21.
*You must be 18 years of age or older to enter the contest. U.S. residents only, please.
The book giveaway has ended and the winner is:
Lauralee
Congratulations!
Connect with Laura Sassi:
blog: http://laurasassitales.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraSassiTales
Twitter: @LauraSassiTales
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurasassitales/
Hi Denette,
I recently came across your blog and subscribed. I’m enjoying your posts. Please enter me in the drawing if I’m not too late.
I’m a freelance writer with a picture book favorites blog of my own. I’m currently shopping my picture book manuscripts around to publishers so any advice you have in that regard would be appreciated.
Keep up the fun posts. Thanks!
Thank you Cindy! Everyone’s writing path is different. I tried querying publishers directly for years, with no success. Getting an agent helped me “break” in. I’ll take a look at your blog. 🙂
This is such a sweet and practical book. My kinders loved it and really enjoyed finding the scripture that was included in the illustrations. This book is a perfect springboard for discussing what love really looks like for children. Please enter my name for the drawing :-).
Glad your kinders enjoyed it, Becky!
Please enter us. I know lots of little ones that would LOVE to have your LOVE IS KIND book read to them, plus they’ll really ENJOY looking at all the great pictures the book has in it.
Yes! The pictures are adorable!
Adorable crafts!
Thank you, Tina!
Love the crafts!!
Thank you, Anitha!
This book is incredible. It brought up wonderful conversations with my kindergarten class about why thinking of others brings us joy. Jesus had a wonderful plan when he designed kindness and this sweet story displays a “tiny one” making hard, but good choices!
I’d love a copy of my own!
Thank you, Marleen!